Top 5 Things to Do Inauguration Day 2009

OUT WITH THE OLD

1. Get a final night of George W. Bush with Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America. The play premiers on Broadway tonight and runs through March 15.

2. Enjoy the Last Days of W., Alec Soth's latest exhibit, at Gagosian Gallery (980 Madison Avenue). Opening reception from 6 pm to 8 pm.

IN WITH THE NEW

3. If you aren't actually going to DC to see Obama get sworn in, watch the inauguration on television.

4. Party for the Democratic party at the Blue Ball, featuring DJ Whoo Kid.

5. Be the catalyst for change. Attend the Brooklyn Inaugural Ball at Bell House, which not only features performances by Karen Gibson Roc and the South African Music Collective but also is a benefit for P.S. 261.

Top 5 Things to Do January 19, 2009

1. You already rode the subway without your pants earlier this month. Now, ride for free. Dunkin' Donuts will be giving out free metrocards from 6:30 am - 9:30 am at the Lexington Ave and 53rd Street metro stop.

2. You thought Eve was a temptress you should see Liz Renay. For the first time in fifty years, the sex kitten's paintings are being shown in New York. The exhibit, How to Attract Men: The Art of Liz Renay, opened earlier this month and will be on display at Deitch Projects (76 Grand St., Manhattan) through the end of the month.


3. Usually, PAINTstain (766 Grand, Brooklyn) is just a cool night to sit down with some friends and make art out of found objects, but tonight at the Williamsburg joint there will be a staged still life.

4. While the Poe Toaster is visiting Edgar Allan Poe's grave in Baltimore, celebrate the time the poet spent in New York. Plan a trip to his cottage in the Bronx, which is open on Saturdays and Sundays only.

5. The Met is usually closed on Mondays, but you can get in today!

Top 5 Things to Do This Weekend, January 16 - 18, 2009

1. Flight of the Conchords' Eugene Mirman will be at Comix on January 16 and 17. FMI

2. Catch two acts with religious-sounding names even though they're not religious bands (as far as we know at least), The Muslims (okay, okay, they're actually called The Soft Pack now) and New Rock Church of Fire, at Mercury Lounge on Friday the 16th.

3. They can paint and snap pictures! Artists Making Photographs: Chamberlain, Rauschenberg, Samaras, Ruscha, Warhol opens at the Whitney on Friday.

4. Team Robespierre will be at The Delancey on Saturday.

5. Free beer at Ellis Bar in Brooklyn on Sunday from 3 to 4 pm. FMI

Top 5 Things to Do January 15, 2009

1. Stargazers might appreciate The Journey to Palomar, what is billed as "a film about American astronomer George Ellery Hale’s dramatic public and private struggle to build the four largest telescopes of the 20th century." Afterwards Dr. Ben Oppenheimer will discuss contemporary astronomy. FMI

2. Heloise & The Savoir Faire, described as "one part theatrical pop, one part post-punk revival,"
at Bowery Ballroom. FMI

3. Would you care for a spot of tea in the grand ballroom at Gracie Mansion? FMI

4. Forget tea. You can pay with beer to attend the Jugger-Nut Comics #2 "Wak Fantastic" release party at the Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery).

5. Necrophiliacs might appreciate the talk on Green Wood Cemetery at the B&N in Park Slope. FMI

Top 5 Things to Do January 14, 2009

1. Put pen to the paper and take a free class from the Gotham Writers' Workshop. FMI

2. Catch Titus Andonicus and Vivian Girls at Maxwell's. $10. FMI

3. $10 too pricey in this economy but still wanna get your music on? Well, you're in luck 'cause Los Campesinos will be giving a free show at Sound Fix.

4. Claim you follow the Julian Calendar and celebrate New Year's Day all over again!

5. Knicks have a home game (vs. Washington). FMI

Top 5 Things to Do January 13, 2009

1. Enjoy Brahms on the cheap: Attend ChamberFest 2009, put on by students from Juilliard, at Paul Hall (155 65th Street) at 8 pm

2. Attend FOS' cocktail kick off

3. Live variously through Michael Pearson as he tells about his Semester at Sea during his reading from the Mark Twain-titled Innocents Abroad Too at Barnes & Noble (82nd & Broadway) at 7 pm

4. Dance at the Slavic Soul Party at Barbes (376 9th St. by the corner of 6th Ave., in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn) at 9 pm. $10

5. Geologist Sidney Horenstein uncovers the building stones and fossils in the walls (both interior and exterior) of the Museum of Natural History at 6:30 pm ($30)

Top 5 Things to Do January 12, 2009

1. Despite being at the epicenter of the world, sometimes New York can feel miles from nowhere. Nami Mun is giving a free reading from her book about a Korean immigrant living in the Bronx at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble at 7 pm

2. Enjoy Mozart on the cheap: Attend ChamberFest 2009, put on by students from Juilliard, at Paul Hall (155 65th Street) at 8 pm

3. Finally get a chance to go to MoMA when it stays open late tonight (and by late, we mean 8:45 pm)

4. When it comes to music, have you ever wondered What Makes It Great? Smarty pans Rob Kapilow, Christopheren Nomura, and Timothy Long will answer that at 7:30 pm at the Walter Reade Theater in this Lincoln Center series

5. Be crafty at PAINTstain (766 Grand St., Williamsburg part of Brooklyn), 5 pm, free

Top 5 Things to Do This Weekend, January 9 - 11, 2009

1. Be inspired the melodic beauty of A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan on Saturday at 8 pm ($13) or at Union Hall in Brooklyn on Sunday at 9 pm ($12 advance, $14 at the door)

2. Never mind the hawks, get yourself to the Dyckman Fields entrance of Inwood Hill Park by 8 am on Saturday and you might see an eagle

3. While you're at the park, mulch your Christmas tree

4. Can't get enough of The Hold Steady's mustachioed keyboardist? Get your fill first on Friday at 8 pm at Webster Hall ($20), where Franz Nicolay's playing as part of the World/Inferno Friendship Society, and then on Sunday at 10 pm at (le) poisson rouge ($10), where he plays as himself

5. Who shot Alexander Hamilton?



On Sunday, the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the U.S. Parks Service will throw a birthday bash for Alexander Hamilton. There will be costumed interpreters, which makes me think of a certain Chuck Palahniuk book-turned-movie

Top 5 Things to Do January 8, 2009

1. Everyone you know full of contradictions? Attend the opening reception for Contradictions in Black and White at Hasted Hunt (529 West 20th St., 3rd Fl.)

2. Discover the hidden branch that tells time in Central Park. Meet at 1:00 in front of the statue of Samuel F. B. Morse (inside the Park at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street)

3. If you have Peter Pan Syndrome, you might as well join all the kiddies that'll be at the Swedish Cottage in Central Park for the marionette production of Peter Pan and Adventures in Neverland

4. Hey there, karaoke stud, head on over to the Barnes & Noble at 106 Court Street in Brooklyn at 7:00 pm for a free reading of Don't Stop Believin' by author Brian Raftery, who, by the by, calls Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" his favorite karaoke song

5. Itching for a behind-the-scenes look into the Museum of Natural History's Conservation Lab? (Yeah, me too.) The Museum is offering three half-hour sessions, the first at 6:30, for $35 apiece.

Top 5 Things to Do January 7, 2009

1. Quit clowning around and experience the Big Apple Circus' "Circus of the Sense" at 11:00 am at Lincoln Center, Damrosch Park (Broadway & West 63rd St.)

2. Discover Central Park's history in a free walking tour. Meet. at 11:00 am outside the Dairy Gift Shop, mid-Park at 65th Street.

3. Experience Stochastic Brooklyn at 8:00 pm at Barbes (376 9th St. @ 6th Ave., in Park Slope) for $10

4. Evaluate the status of those New Year's Resolutions you made

5. Breathe a sigh of relief that what's probably the first full week you've had since Christmas is finally over

Top 5 Things to Do January 6, 2009

1. Scrubs returns to television!

2. Inspired by Doug Aitken's Migration film at 303 Gallery last fall? Steven Rinella's reading of American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble at 7 pm, might be up your alley.

3. Enjoy a free organ concert put on by James Kennerley at 4:40pm at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (145 W. 46th St.) by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists

4. Get a preview of Robin Rhode's sets for Lincoln Center's 2009 November performances as part of the Broadway Billboards series at Socrates Sculpture Park

5. Hedda Gabler preview today. Be one of the first to see it.

Top 5 Things to Do January 5, 2009

1. Listen to Michael Davis read from Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street at 7:30 pm at the Barnes & Noble in Lincoln Square and you'll see New York through the eyes of the Muppets.


2. Set work goals for the fiscal year

3. Pack your lunch and save about $988 this year

4. Bake a king cake to celebrate Twelfth Night

5. Register for a continuing ed class

Top 5 Things to Do This Weekend, January 2 - 4, 2009

1. Everyone and their cousin is still partying in NYC. Escape the madness by getting out of town.

2. Stick to at least one of the Resolutions you made yesterday

3. Make a list of all your outfit combinations so you look smashing all year round

4. Are you a fan of The Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime? Then head on down to the 33 1/3 Multimedia Reading Series at on Sunday (1/4) at 7:00 PM at Barbés (376 9th St at 6th Ave, Park Slope).

5. Put away all your Christmas decorations so you don't have to claim the red lights are for Valentine's Day come February

Top 5 Things to Do January 1, 2009

1. Sleep in

2. Make (somewhat realistic) Resolutions for the New Year

3. Eat the perfect post-partying brunch

4. Join the Polar Bears for their traditional New Year's Day swim at Coney Island

5. Fill in all the important dates from last year's calendar into this year's so you don't forget that dentist appointment you scheduled six months in advance